Elementary Science - Grade 4
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Adaptations
Essential Unit Outcomes
In this unit, our fourth grade scientists will
- Explain that in order for offspring to resemble their parents, there must be a reliable way to transfer information from one generation to the next.
- Explain that individuals from the same kind differ in their characteristics, and sometimes the differences give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.
- Recognize that all living things need food to grow and survive.
- Explain ways that individuals and groups of organisms interact with each other and their environment.
- Provide evidence from observations and investigations to support the idea that some organisms consist of a single cell.
- Investigate and provide evidence that living things are made mostly of cells that can be seen and studied only through a microscope.
- Recognize that some source of energy is needed for all organisms to grow and survive.
Physical Science Part 1
Essential Unit Outcomes
In this unit, our fourth grade scientists will
- Describe the motion of objects using distance traveled, time, and speed.
- Explain that the changes in the motion of objects are determined by the mass of an object and the amount (size) of the force applied to it.
- Cite evidence that energy in various forms exists in mechanical systems.
An Alarming Idea
Essential Unit Outcomes
In this unit, our fourth grade scientists and engineers will
- Design tests to assess the feasibility of solutions.
- Identify the materials needed to create an electrical circuit.
- Describe and compare the path of electricity within a system that causes a light to be lit or a buzzer to create sounds.
- Identify the source of electricity used to produce various effects.
- Create and improve a circuit that solves a specific problem.
- Communicate circuit designs using different methods. (e.g schematics, computers, language, written text)
- Describe and give evidence of materials that conduct electricity and those that do not.
Water Quality
Essential Unit Outcomes
In this unit, our fourth grade scientists will
- Identify and describe personal and community behaviors that cause environmental harm and those behaviors that maintain or improve the environment.
- Explain that changes in an organism’s habitat are sometimes beneficial to it and sometimes harmful.
- Develop explanations using knowledge possessed and evidence from observations, reliable print resources, and investigations.
HELPFUL PARENT TIPS
- Encourage your children to enjoy science. Help them believe that they are scientists!
- Encourage your children to be observant. Ask, “How?,” “What?,” “Why?”
- Extend units taught in class by doing activities at home together (pond life, electricity, force and motion, water quality).
- Encourage your children to conduct experiments and collect data to find the answers to real life problems.
- Read books, magazines and websites about science.
- Take trips to local nature/environmental centers.
- Take a trip to an aquarium.
- For more parent tips visit the U.S. Department of Education Website, “Helping Your Child Learn Science.” http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/science/brochure.html
